Meeting The Growing Demand for AI and Computing Power

It sounds like science fiction but the concept of having a data centre in space is gaining momentum and attention.

There is a need for more sustainable and scalable data centres. Currently, to address growing demand, data centre firms have been investing in renewable wind, solar and nuclear energy and, China has completed the first phase of a commercial, large scale, underwater data center (Oct 2025). Now, sights have been set on exploring the potential of space to house large data centres. The advantage of outer space is you can better harness the power of the sun and it’s very cold – keeping cool is an important consideration as servers generate a great deal of heat, especially when performing AI tasks.

There’s no denying that eventually the demand for power will outstrip terrestrial capabilities, hence research into space-based facilities as a possible solution is picking up pace. Looking into the benefits, challenges and feasibility are Google with their Project Suncatcher: google/blog/exploring-a-space, Starcloud in partnership with Nvidia AI: www.starcloud.com and Elon Musk recently announced that his companies would start scaling up research.

A New Frontier

Announced as: “A first milestone towards space-based, highly scalable AI infrastructure system design” Google plan to launch two prototype satellites into orbit, early 2027.

The idea, formulated by scientists and engineers is to cluster together 80 solar-powered satellites equipped with powerful processors. These would be positioned roughly 400 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Data centres themselves are energy hungry. According to research the cost of running a data centre in space compared to Earth would be less and would also minimise the impact on terrestrial resources. Data centres in space would be powered by solar panels which would be eight times more productive than on Earth.

Philip Johnston, Co-Founder & CEO at Starcloud, said: “In space, you get almost unlimited, low-cost renewable energy. The only cost on the environment will be on the launch, then there will be 10 times carbon dioxide savings over the life of the datacentre compared with powering the datacentre terrestrially.”

A Note of Caution

Google’s cautionary note is that: “Significant engineering challenges remain, such as thermal management, high-bandwidth ground communications and on-orbit system reliability.” Latency in communication between Earth and space affects data transmission speeds, which presents a huge challenge. Starlink’s satellite network has made some progress with this issue. It will be as fast as fibre broadband in the years ahead, Musk claims.

Other considerations are, how to maintain a data centre in space and how to deal with solar flares and debris collision? Perhaps advances in robotics and automation are the answer.

The idea of data centres in space is creating a great deal of excitement but it’s complex. The solutions lie with research, investment and global collaboration. For now, watch this space.